1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to auxiliary portable conveyors and more particularly to such a conveyor designed for use at an airline luggage check-in counter to make possible the movement of the checked-in luggage to a conventional nearby main conveyor system on which the luggage is delivered to a loading area under conditions that do not require the check-in attendant to lift, carry or otherwise manhandle the luggage other than guiding it over the auxiliary conveyor.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is standard practice throughout the airline industry that an airline customer with luggage to be checked for loading on the plane will deposit the luggage on a scale platform built into the check-in counter. The attendant after properly tagging the luggage for its appropriate destination must get it to the loading area for the plane and for this purpose the airlines provide a main conveyor system. The main conveyor passes through the check-in area several feet behind the platform where the luggage is tagged. The main conveyor moves the luggage to the loading area for other personnel to handle.
Once the luggage is checked, the attendant must physically lift or carry it from the check-in counter platform to the nearby main conveyor. For some airline check-in personnel this task of physically lifting and carrying the luggage is not a problem, but with more and more heavy and larger pieces of luggage being checked through today, experience has clearly demonstrated that the airlines are being confronted with a growing array of health and injury problems that are proving to be very costly for the following reasons.
The airlines, and for that matter most employers generally, do not have the luxury under current laws of hiring only the healthy and strong. The labor force includes many persons with a variety of disabilities, many of small frames and stature who cannot satisfactorily handle a job requiring much physical effort and many of whom have serious health conditions. For the airline industry this wide array of employees has produced many lost work hours and added overhead expense due to claimed injuries from handling heavy luggage pieces, and time off for certain health related conditions. One such health related condition is pregnancy where the person involved must take time off from her regular job as soon as her condition does not permit the physical effort needed to handle the luggage at her counter. The airline industry is faced with the constant problem of what is known as OJI or on the job injury. Job hours are lost to injuries and health conditions affected by the job requirements. This translates into substantial additional overhead expense due to Workmen Compensation claims, overtime, and double overtime pay required in certain circumstances where employees have to be temporarily replaced because they cannot handle the physical part of their job.
Those concerned with these and other problems recognize the need for an improved system for handling luggage at an airline check-in counter.